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I think this fits in fine with the American concept of pricing for vehicles in its class

Make no mistake, this is no chevy volt. It's a performance luxury sedan that happens to be electric

On the topic of the Karamas, they've had a series of fire issues. Including one recall that may or may not have solved all of the issues.

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/12/29/fisker-officially-recalls-karma-over-battery-safety-issue/
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/12/fisker-flambe-second-karma-spontaneously-combusts-w-video/
http://www.insideline.com/fisker/karma/uncertainty-surrounds-fisker-karma-fire-automaker-contends.html

In Germany, the industry and government plans are to go full electric For instance, BMW has these prototypes running.

34% of MINIs are sold with a manual transmission. 50% in New England.

Citation: http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/2011/08/2011-mini-cooper-s-countryman-mini-launches-manualhood-ad-campaign.html

We're talking about the price of this car, not the price of other cars.

Here's an article where Edmunds said they paid $49,000 out-the-door for a Volt

http://www.insideline.com/chevrolet/volt/2011/long-term-test-2011-chevrolet-volt.html

They may have given away some leverage, but they clearly did not get the car for $30,000 as some have claimed.

Oh piss off about Germany and its supposed superiority over America.

1) Germany is about the size of Montana, just one of 50 American states, into which 80 million people are crammed. America's national parks (not including numerous state parks), alone, completely undeveloped, are nearly the size of Germany. So, right off the wheel, in terms of sheer size, and getting around, America is a much more rural country than Germany is.

2) Germany's standard of living is based on an export driven economy that essentially relies on the fact that first the mark and now the euro are way overvalued relative to the us dollar, and that the USA picks up the tab for ensuring that Germany even has access to oil by virtue of American military power in the persian gulf.

3) Germany has a declining population - if Germany was so great, why do they have a forecast net population decline? By contrast, the USA has a population that is growing the fastest out of any of the NATO nations.

4) German corporations have a -lower- tax rate than American ones do. Oops, did I say that? Also, German laws are absolutely brutal for debt collection compared to American ones. If you, in America, blow off paying a loan bank, you get a bunch of angry letters and pissy phone calls and for the most part that's really all about they can do to you. In Germany, they can just come and start taking your shit away.

5) The German educational system essentially creates a class system by picking kids early on to go to university. In America, anyone whose willing to take out a student loan and do the work can find some place to get a degree, and all kids are educated not to be tradesman, but to be college bound.

6) I'll take Kentucky bourbon over German beer, American NFL football and MLB baseball over stupid soccer.

7) Speaking of taxed to the hilt, Germans are actually more in debt per capita than Americans are, and the American financial picture improves rather dramatically when the Bush tax cuts expire, and the budget sequesters kick in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_debt

8) Germans talk of a United Europe but bitch because the Greeks can't get their shit together. In America, we talk about a United States, and most Americans are not even aware of how federal dollars get redistributed all over the country for rural and urban development. (in essence, southerners wishing for reducing federal spending need to be periodically reminded that most federal spending is actually on them...)

9) Americans have way better food. Want cheap industrial food, got that. Want fresh cuisine representative of every nation on the planet? Got that too.

And then, best of all, there's this:

http://www.insideline.com/cadillac/cts-v/2009/2009-cadillac-cts-v-sets-nurburgring-record.html

IIHS also found SUVs to be safer due to weight advantage. This study only looks at crashes and neglects the fact that lighter vehicles tend to stop faster and have better turn radius, which helps to prevent them from getting into accidents in the first place.

I looked into it again and I do stand corrected.

Apparently what the engine will not do is charge the batteries. At speeds of less than 70MPH but with a depleted battery pack, the engine provides motive power only indirectly through the electrical generator.

The assertion posted elsewhere that there is no mechanical link between engine and wheels is still wrong, however that is only under certain circumstances.

So my apologies for that.
=Smidge=

Diesel keeps getting overlooked by the hype for hybrid vehicles, but a VW Passat BlueMotion recently broke the record for mileage, getting 74.8 MPG.

To be fair, they ARE brilliant, but even brilliance doesn't always result in "wow, awesome!" A case in point, Wayne Cherry designed both the 1970 Vauxhall SRV and the Pontiac Aztec.

It's true that Wave made almost no ripples (sorry, bad pun), but I very much doubt "hacks" defines the vast majority of Google's workforce.

That's cutting edge, but I rather go with the current "state of the art"?

More practical and way more fun to drive.

SAE J1772 maxes out at 16.8 kW according to the wikipedia article you linked. It takes 3.5 hours to charge a tesla roadster at that wattage. If you want to charge your Tesla in 15 minutes, you're gonna need 14 times as much juice.

I can see why the Japanese might not be satisfied with that standard.

btw - I hope your are right. I own a Prius, but not one with the problem, so I am unable to even try to help. If I did have one I would be disassembling the software system looking for potential overwrites of the variables that control the throttle calculation.

If only GM would sell a decent Opel here.

Rejoice! ;-) It is coming. Buick regal 2010 is actually the Opel Insignia with swapped grille and logo. Initially it will be even built in Germany moving later to Canada.

See what I mean? Perceptions, man. There's a Volkswagen (Polo) they sell in Europe at the moment that in BlueMotion diesel tune will get 70, yes, 70 miles per gallon. Believe it. But, alas and alack, it's not sold here because the marketeers say Americans will never buy diesel. And because of that, the diesel here is shite compared to the 'clean' diesel they sell in Europe.

Also, despite the fact that Toyota claims 48 mpg in EPA testing, no respectable publication has come even close to that in real-world testing.

Here's an example... the diesel Jetta vs the Prius. The Jetta wins. You'd need to drive the Prius for 100 months to equal the fuel efficiency and tax credits of the Jetta.

Don't believe the hype.